The freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1886-18??, 1887-02-09
HOME FOLKS.
The Education of Girls.
a Fathers Wise Words and Useful
Counsel to Fathers.
SECOND PAPER.

of this subject. Woman's sphere
is not limited to maternity and do
mesticity, for many do not marry.
Many should not. No woman
should marry unless her own heart
draws her to the alliance. If she
marries for any other reason,
name, social elevation, property,
she will wish that she had needed
st. Paul's advice: 81 say therefore
to the unmarried and widows, it is
good for them if they abide even as
l." If it is "better for p man to
dwell in corner of the housetop
than with Drawing woman in a
wide house." it is better for wo,
man to 60 to heaven at once than
to live in an earthly hell with a
man she cannot respect and love.
We have profound admiration for
old maids who have remained such
from their own choice Not al
ways are the double roses the
sweetest. A woman who has the
courage to say "No," to what the
world might call a very excellent
match, simply because her heart
refuses to officiate at the wedding !;
who declines to share million.
aires fortune because she cannot
promise to pay for it in love with
out defalcation or discount, belongs
to as high an order as do the best
of mothers, and Pro whence gen.
orally gives them special honors.
What would the world do without
the angel band of maiden aunts,
who watch over motherless homes,
who dispense heavens comfort by
good works in church and charity,
wherever humanity needs that
comfort which only woman's
hand can give? Miss Nightingale
in the army hospital, Miss Dix
IN prison and insane asylums, Miss
'Octavia Hill among the tenement
poor of London, have been lifted
by circumstances into prominence
out of host of unmarried wo.
men who are doing more to bright
en- the face of humanity than any
political government on earth.
Now let US speak very plainly,
for we are cutting at the very core
of a vast and growing evil. There
is no more cruel tyranny than
that condition of society which
forces most women into marriage IN
order to secure q hving. And the
occasion of the existing necessity
is largely false ideal Of woman's
education, which aims to fit her
only for the duties of the home.
The boy learns trade, business,
a profession, because he must earn
living, but the girl ordinarily
learns nothing beyond what she
may need, on the supposition that
she is to have husband who will
earn all the living. Therefore, to
marry becomes her first necessity :;
it is her policy; if she can marry
q true heart, so much the better !;
but marry she must. 1t is risk
to decline the first offer. To be en-
gagged early and have the matter
settled is considered wisdom. For
it parents manipulate and daugh-
ters set their caps; generally with
about as much choice of persons as
the trapper has choice of the
game that will come to his mesh
es. Her better instincts loathe
the whole business; but what can
she do? Father will not live al
ways and will leave no fortune.
She must make herself home.
Now we maintain that the edu-
cation which does not aim at ct
ting the woman to take care of
herself in the world, so chat she
shall be as free as man is in the
matter of marriage, is wrong, al
most tragically wrong. Why
should your daughter be left to the
hazard of some young mans choice
who really knows neither her ma
ture nor his own nature Marriage
is lottery, because by the circum-
stances in which we parents put
our daughters, their earthly des-
tiny is all on that single cast,
when it should be guarded at least
by common discretion, such as you
would expect her to use in other